Sign In

The map titled Deutsches Grenzland in Not (German Borderlands in Distress) reflects the political and cultural anxieties of interwar Germany, likely produced during the 1920s or 1930s. Published by the Volksbund für das Deutschtum im Ausland (League for Germandom Abroad), the map illustrates regions where German-speaking populations resided outside the boundaries of the Deutsches Reich (Germany) and Austria following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. The map serves as both a cartographic document and a piece of propaganda, emphasizing the precarious status of German-speaking communities scattered across Europe.

The map highlights the Deutsches Reich and Deutschösterreich (Austria) in pale red cross-hatching, while bold red shading is used to designate Deutsches Grenzland in Not (German Borderlands in Distress). These areas include territories such as West Prussia and Poland, particularly the Polish Corridor and Danzig/Gdańsk, the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, Alsace in France, South Tyrol in Italy, and regions of Hungary and Yugoslavia. Isolated German-speaking enclaves, labeled Deutsche Sprachinseln (German language islands), are marked in red against a black background to highlight their isolation. The Saar region, temporarily under French administration, is crosshatched in orange, while German-speaking areas in Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein are shown in a red grid pattern. Non-Germanic ethnic regions are depicted in stark black.

This map emerged from the geopolitical upheaval of post-World War I Europe, where German territorial losses and border realignments displaced significant German-speaking populations. Produced by the Volksbund für das Deutschtum im Ausland, an organization advocating for the rights of German minorities abroad, the map underscores the group's mission to highlight these communities' perceived marginalization and vulnerability. By visually portraying these borderlands as "in distress," the map fostered a sense of German solidarity and grievance, fueling nationalist calls for border revisions and reunification of German-speaking peoples.

The map was originally published in Austria in 1920 as a response to the post-World War I borders established by the Treaty of Versailles. It was later reprinted in Nazi Germany in multiple versions until 1936. According to the New York Times (March 17, 1935), this map was distributed by the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda and prominently displayed in German schoolrooms. The map was published by the Volksbund für das Deutschtum im Ausland, a Berlin-based organization founded in 1881 to represent Germans living abroad. During the National Socialist period, the organization—renamed in 1933—was highly active, recruiting many Germans abroad as spies. Today, the organization still exists under the name Verein für Deutsche Kulturbeziehungen im Ausland e. V.

The map was created by two prominent German cartographers, Heinrich Wagner (1846–1921) and Ernst Debes (1840–1923). Heinrich Wagner, a cartographer and lithographer, was the son of Eduard Wagner, a noted German cartographer. Ernst Debes, before partnering with Wagner, studied at the Justus Perthes Institute under August Petermann and contributed to a new edition of Stieler’s School Atlas. In 1872, the two men founded a cartographic office, which produced work for major clients, most notably the Karl Baedeker guidebooks. Wagner and Debes became well known for their detailed thematic maps, blank educational charts, school atlases, and multilingual atlases, which solidified their legacy in German cartography.